Try thinking back to your first time trying fast food.

Do you remember the smell? That intoxicating aroma of golden-brown french fries and burgers on the grill? What went through your mind when you learned what a Big Mac was? Or a Whopper?

We all share a similar version of this same memory. I work with senior citizens and did this blog as a presentation with them - they, too, shared stories of trying a McDonald’s burger for the first time, only their burgers only cost 15 cents.

On that note, this is a very USAmerica-centric blog - for example, prices will be in USD. We will look at the history of McDonalds, its quaint beginnings, and where it’s gone in the years since it was founded. We’ll explore a little history of other fast food restaurants too. All of the following information comes from restaurants’ official sites and Wikipedia. Pls don’t sue me. I’ve done my best transforming this from PowerPoint to blog. Hope it translates well haha.

We begin with the Automat - first opened in Berlin, Germany in 1895. Automats rose to popularity in the United States in the 1920s then remained in the public eye throughout the 30s. One Automat company coined the slogan, “Less Work for Mother”. It was “fast” food but not quite what we think of.

I’d be remiss not to mention drive-ins, a rarer and rarer experience in our world. These were convenient ways to get dinner without getting out of the car. The element of ease and a simple, repeatable menu made the transaction quick and speedy.

The first White Castle opened its doors in Wichita, Kansas on September 13, 1921. It has generally been dubbed as the first fast food hamburger chain. Others that popped up around this time without the glory are Kewpee and Big Boy.

1930, about 10 years before the existence of McDonalds, and a man named Harland Sanders opened his first restaurant inside a Kentucky gas station. Maybe you know what he did. More on him later.

McDONALD’S BREAKTHROUGH
McDonalds’s first location opened in 1940, but in 1948, Dick & Mac McDonald invented the Speedee Service System. This was a method that streamlined their operations. Workers specialized in one task (ie. grilling, assembling, or packaging) which made food preparation faster. Customers would order their food and get it quickly at the counter, no waiters involved!

Skip to 1952 - McDonalds has gotten a little more popular. Mr. Sanders is franchising his chicken recipe.

It’s 1953 now and a restaurant opens in Jacksonville, Florida named Insta-Burger King. Hmmm…

Back to McDonalds… it’s 1954. A man named Ray Kroc visits the McDonalds brothers to upsell them on a milkshake blender. Instead, he walks away with a vision. He could turn this hamburger stand into a multi-billion dollar industry. He chats with the brothers, promises them a share of all future profits, and buys the company for $2.7 million dollars. Spoiler alert - his vision pans out. He also later IGNORED his verbal promise to the McDonald brothers, leaving them high and dry. Then he opened a new McDonalds near the OG McDonald’s location and effectively forced them out of business. Such is business.

Kroc prioritized uniformity across all locations. He ensured every burger, fry, and shake tasted the same no matter where it was sold. He did this through franchising. The franchise formula helped fast food places grow very quickly in the ‘50s-‘70s. Becoming a franchise gave restaurants consistent branding and was considered an investment in local business.

McDonald’s then evolved. In 1940, McDonald’s Bar-B-Q featured 25 menu items, including tamales! Burgers were 10 cents. One of my residents, Alice, stated she remembers when hamburgers were 19 cents, which would’ve been around the 1970s. In the 70s, McDonald’s made their menus even smaller and prices hovered anywhere from 20 cents to 75 cents. Filet o Fish and the Big Mac were added to the menu. Nowadays, there’s dozens of items including breakfasts, salads, McCafe, etc. and prices are… well, 2025 prices.

McDonald’s went global in 1967, with its first international locations being Canada and Puerto Rico. They try to appease the local culture of each country - for instance in Italy you can get a Sweety con Nutella and in Japan they have the Teriyaki McBurger - a ground pork patty with mayonnaise, lettuce and teriyaki sauce. In Sweden, there is a ski resort that has been home to McSki, a ski-able drive-thru, since 1996, and many European countries serve beer as a drink.

Fun fact to leave you on: Ronald McDonald is the world’s most recognizable fictional character. At 96% recognizability, his rate is higher than Santa! (Santa is real tho.)